Change Minds. 考えを変えさせる。

At some level, you want to influence people. At a micro level, you might want to influence your wife to reduce her sugar intake. You might want to influence your son to go outside more. Or maybe you want to influence your friend to work on a project with you. That’s the micro level—influence of individuals.

Most people, most of the time, work at that level. The majority of our communications are one-on-one.

Some people make lots of money at the micro level of influence. Parents talking to their children work at that level. Car salesmen work at that level. Customer service at the camera store works at that level. Any time someone is looking you in the eyes, they are trying to influence you at the micro level.

Once you’re good at micro level influence, you usually level up to the macro level. Leading business meetings and having parties at your house are a step up from the micro level. Marketing, Ted talks, sports commentating, podcasting, etc. are at the highest levels of influence. At that level, you are influencing large groups of people you have never and likely will never meet.

But the question is: How do you influence? How do you change minds? How do you get people to do what you want?

Well, scientists say that there are six general influence strategies. They are:

1. Reciprocity
2. Consistency
3. Consensus
4. Liking
5. Authority
6. Scarcity

If you can skillfully use those general influence strategies, you will have a much greater chance of getting what you want.

When you get a job in America, you will need to speak English. If you can pronounce English at a near native level, your authority will increase. You will gain the respect of native English speakers and make it easier for them to understand and like you. Why? Because people like you are quite scarce. Near-native English pronunciation communicates a lot about you. As a result, you will be able to influence people more easily than if you spoke broken English. Getting a promotion, making a deal, or getting a date will come more easily.

If you are getting attention and successfully influencing people, you are already operating at a level higher than the average person. The world is yours for the taking. The question is: what do you do with your high profile and persuasion skills?